A bookkeeper accused of stealing $760,000 from a Boulder company is booked in Jefferson County Jail after police arrested her on suspicion of a felony theft charge.

Michelle Lynn Shelton, 40, is accused of stealing from her employer, Highline Financial.

Boulder police obtained a warrant on Friday for her arrest, and investigators located Shelton at her Westminster home later that day.

Boulder detectives launched their investigation in December 2010 after another accountant, who was filling in while Shelton was off from work, discovered what appeared to be a large amount of money being transferred to two separate personal bank accounts, according to police.

Two men who bragged they knew the person who beat up a Boulder officer after slashing the tires of two police vehicles Saturday night are wanted for questioning in the matter, the city said today.

The men were in a Boulder restaurant, which was not named, and its management on Monday gave investigators security video and still photographs of the pair, neither of whom match the description of the assailant.

Sgt. Jim Byfield received a concussion, a broken elbow and a broken clavicle in the struggle about 9:40 p.m. near 11th and College streets.

“The two men were at the establishment in the early morning hours after the attack and bragged that they knew someone who had just beaten up an officer,” police stated.

More than a half dozen homemade explosives were recovered Wednesday afternoon and early today by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office in Boulder County’s Somerset subdivision.

This follows an incident earlier in the week in which a resident in the 7800 block of Durham in the Heatherwood subdivision reported hearing an explosion.

The next morning, an explosive device was recovered.

An earlier incident occurred on July 1 when someone threw one of the homemade devices from a pickup truck and a bystander kicked it, causing it to explode.

Boulder County Sheriff Commander Rick Brough said all the devices are similar.

They are 12-to-16 ounce capped plastic bottles that contain a liquid chemical and aluminum foil.

In the latest incidents, Brough said deputies went to the Somerset subdivision swimming pool about 3 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a suspicious container.

Brough said the deputies found the remnants of four explosive devices – plastic bottles that had erupted – in the area around the pool, tennis courts and in an adjacent field.

He said one of the devices was thrown into the pool house where it exploded, causing about $1,000 in damage.

About 12:50 a.m. today, a deputy patrolling the subdivision located three more explosive devices in the same area.

Brough said that because of the multiple incidents involving the exploding bottles, the public needs to be cautious. The chemical reaction in the bottles produces hydrogen gas which is flammable, said Brough.

Two incidents involving “exploding homemade devices” has caused the Boulder County Sheriff to warn county residents to be on the lookout for suspicious containers.

The most recent incident occurred late Monday night when a resident in the 7800 block of Durham Way in the Heatherwood subdivision reported hearing an explosion.

Tuesday morning, a ruptured plastic bottle with its lid intact was found near the location of the explosion reported at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The sheriff’s office said that the bottle had been ruptured from some type of an explosion.

An additional search of the subdivision by sheriff’s deputies failed to find any additional devices.

Sheriff’s Commander Rick Brough said that at 8 p.m. on July 1, a plastic bottle was thrown from a black Chevrolet pickup at the intersection of Pawnee and Longview Drive in the Morton Heights subdivision in Niwot.

When a witness kicked the bottle, it exploded, said Brough. Neither the person kicking the bottle nor a second person standing nearby were injured.

Brough said the bottle contained chemicals that when combined created an explosion.

Brough said the Boulder Sheriff’s Office is warning the public of the two incidents because of the dangers involved.

In both Monday night’s incident, and the one in July, the devices were 12-16 ounce capped plastic bottles that contained a liquid chemical and aluminum foil.

Citizens are being cautioned against picking up suspicious containers that are found in their mailboxes, the street or on their lawns.

August 5: Bike theft in Boulder is down 36 percent so far this year from last year, and detectives say the numbers could continue to drop thanks to several key arrests they’ve made in the past few weeks.

The most prolific suspected bike thieves who have recently been arrested are brothers Torin Odea, 22, and Kieran Odea, 18, according to police. Detectives suspect the brothers have stolen 65 bikes — many of them from the Boulder County area — since April.

Torin Odea was arrested June 24 on suspicion of numerous charges including theft, theft by receiving and illegally pawning. His younger brother was arrested July 29 on suspicion of similar charges.

Detectives were struggling to identify suspects behind the recent bike thefts in Boulder because many riders don’t know the serial numbers for their bicycles. But investigators got the tip they needed June 24.

The man responsible for tipping off police to the Odea brothers said he caught up to the suspected thieves on June 24 in the parking lot, and they gave him back the bike and asked if he was going to call police.

The man, who didn’t want to give his name to protect his family, told them he would think about it. He almost didn’t until he realized they might be responsible for other thefts in the area.

“It was just fortuitous that I saw them when it was happening,” he said, adding that he believes the brothers’ nonchalance while stealing the bikes in broad daylight kept them from getting caught sooner.

“They were casual and calm and not panicky at all,” he said. “It amazes me how much hubris it would take to pull these off in the middle of the day.”